Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-10-22
DAIRY PRODUCTS.
A Profitable Art Neglscted-Butter Making
As a Lost Art.
C,,,,,yr,y EyeuHfpilU

Country ucftt't""H''
EDS. COUNTRY GENTLEMAN-Youre cor
respondent Gerald Howatt, p 744, REFERS
to butter-making as NEARLY lost art" 10
some this may seem queer, but those in the
business appreciate it. l have been en-
gagged in buying rancid butter to be remade
mo oleomargarine), and have bought tons
of it in Albany and New York from butter
commission merchants. Probably few OF
your readers have the sllghtes idea Of the
amount of bad butter in the market. A
mistaken idea prevails that any one who
can turn butter over in bowl can make
il. This accumulation of bad butter is
gathered from country stores, where farm
erss trade it for groceries. have watched
the makers, who are generally the ordi-
nary house help, working in rooms ada
cent to the dining room and kitchen, where
tobacco smoking is indulge in. When in
a cellar, the milk is surrounded by pota-
toes, cabbages and all the other etceteras
OF the ordinary farmer-they either not
knowing or not caring that their milk abb
sorbs all this had odor. 1t is the same in
summer, and perhaps worse. Morning and
evening the male hired help milk the cows,
which are plastered on each hindquarter
with manure; the men turn In from the
field, all perspiration, dirty cloths, dirty
hands. To wash their hands or the cows
udder, in their estimation is loss Of time.
A prevailing opinion is that those city
men, know nothing Of butter, as they
never made it. To dispel this idea, can
assure them that l know butter-tasters
who are paid $1,000 year simply to test
| it, aud the farmers product in the New
| York market must 20 through this test;
they NAV impose on themselves, but l
assure you they cannot on those tasters.
This may not be generally known, and the
wider such knowledge is spread, the bet
ter for all concerned.
/ RPer contra, have met many farmers
who at once admitted the inferiority OF
their butt T. Such men all concur in say
| ing that they cannot get dairymen or
women TO make butter right. They go to
cities and advertise for them, which IS
source of expense and a great worry. All
4 other nelp Is easily OO(aluSu, anu iOi tAiS
reason they abandon butter-making, or
are contemplating doing SO. This is not
personal loss; it is a loss to the whole
country. Europe needs butter, and we
can supply it at a profit when well made.
South America furnished a large butter
market aud better prices than Europe.
What do they get from us? Oleomarga-
rine marked pure butter y one firm IN
New York city shipping millions OF pounds
a year to South America. LetOur farmers
make good butter, and it will ship just as
well as tallow and lard.
| understand from Mr. HOwatt'S article
that Mr.. Lawson Valentine, of HOughton
Farm has established u school to teach
butteI-making to males and females. This
will be the first practical school OF its kind
in the United States. How much more
profitable to the learners than measuring
tape or cotton for less money than COM
mon laborer! They will find it healthy,
inyigOrating business, and nothing degrad
ing in it. | hope that Others, like ne,
will wish him godspeed and perfect sue
cess in his undertaking. LIEN.